We are now into the second month of
this New Year, and most of our resolutions have probably fallen by
the wayside by now. These usually have to do with a change in
behavior. However, before we can have a change in behavior, we must
first have a change in our thinking. As one Pastor puts it, “Where
the mind goes, the body follows”! That stands to reason. There is a
term called “stinking thinking” and most of us are victims of
this malady, at one time or another. Many of us are okay as far as
really bad habits are concerned, but some of us need to lose a few
pounds, drink more water, and/or get to bed earlier.

In many cases, our transgressions
aren’t against the body, but rather against our own soul. We carry
too many things from our past and are so burdened down, that it robs
us of our physical strength, our joy of life, and steals from our
future. It corrupts our thinking and distorts our perspective. These
past wounds are dragged around 24/7 like a decaying Albatross tied
around our necks. We stink!

We are unpleasant to be around,
because all we do is talk about the past, or who hurt us lately. We
just want to talk, talk, talk, maybe to purge our pain! Some may be a
little more subtle by being unusually quiet to get you to ask
questions, or want you to read our minds so we can talk about the
past. Many wear our emotions on our sleeves, get hurt easily, and
then complain about the offense. I’ve heard it said that hurt turns
into anger, and anger turned inward, results in depression. If we
were quick to forgive, we could short-circuit this whole sad process.
God is love, but hurt does not want, or allow us to love, or
entertain forgiveness; so now we are on the wrong side of God!

This is a good year to face and deal
with these unresolved hurts. The Lord says, “You’ve dwelt long
enough on this mountain”. Many carry old wounds from childhood.
Cutting words have been inflicted upon our souls. Kids can be cruel
to one another. I don’t know of anyone who has gotten through their
childhood without being wounded by cutting words, whether from their
peers, siblings, parents, or sometimes teachers. Words have power.
Proverbs 12 likens harsh words as to the piercing of a sword.
Proverbs 18 also says “life and death is in the power of the
tongue” which means we can SPEAK life or death to someone. There
are scores of other Scriptures that say these same things.

As parents, we can make or break our
children’s self-image. As a spouse, we can inflict such pain,
degradation, and humiliation upon our mate, that we often drive them
out of the marriage. As siblings, we can be a hero or a tormentor to
the younger ones. If we were the former, we are friends for life. If
we were the latter, we are locked into that role in their minds, and
they don’t want to be around us even when we become adults. We
often reap what we sow, which is determined by whether we have been
selfish or selfless! If we sow love, praise, and encouragement into
our family’s lives, we will reap it right back. The flip side holds
just as true.

Most of the time, unresolved hurt
keeps us down, holds us back, and robs us of the blessings of God. I
heard a preacher say hurt is based in selfishness or pride. It
distorts our views and decisions, and gives us wrong perspectives. If
undealt with year after year, it will turn into bitterness, which is
defiling and toxic, and we spew it out onto others, thereby defiling
them as well. If you’ve ever been around a woman who has endured a
long miserable marriage, you’ll not hear very many positive things
about men or marriage. Prolonged pain tends to make us bitter!

God has and will make those bitter
waters sweet once again, if we let Him.

The Apostle Paul said in 2
Corinthians 5:17, if we are in Christ Jesus, we are new creatures,
old things (hurts included) are passed away and all things become
new.

I talk to many parents who raised
their kids in the ways of the Lord, and it is shocking as to how
these now ADULT children talk to their parents, with such disrespect.
The parents are heartbroken and bewildered as to how this is
possible. “We never spoke to our parents in this way, so they
didn’t get that attitude from our bad example”!
These same parents seldom if ever get to see their own grandchildren;
such is the extent of the disconnection between our generations. This
behavior is almost an epidemic, and not just in the unsaved American
families. It’s in the Church!

Most of us who became parents in the
1960’s through the 1980’s, raised our kids the way our parents
raised us. It was the “Spare the rod, spoil the child” rule. We
had regular chores, bedtimes, and didn’t even think of defying our
parents. Others who rebelled, or who were actually abused by their
parents, opted for the Dr. Spock concept and were more inclined to
spoil their children. When both types of kids met up in High School
or College and compared notes, the disciplined ones walked away
feeling they had been duped all their lives! They felt cheated, and
mistreated as children. (We even made them accompany us to church)!

As today’s adults, they see no
value in marriage or having children. They totally live for
themselves, their “significant others” and/or their pets; they
mostly cut Mom and Dad out of their lives, because their memories of
childhood are just too painful! They don’t seem to have an
understanding of REAL love. Now days, many parents have to forgive
their children!

We cannot allow our point of
reference to be our past pain, even though many of us have lived
through some horrendous things. We all have to let go of what people
have done, or what we THINK they have done to us. We must dismiss it
all and not be deceived to think we can’t change. We do have hope
and our hope is in the Lord, because we cannot do it alone.

I think we must begin by getting
before the Lord, and asking Him to help us, not only to forgive but
FORGET all this junk that has kept us impotent. We can’t move
(grow) when we are paralyzed with bitterness. We must pray that, as
Christ has forgiven and forgotten OUR sins, He helps us forgive
others and throw all their sins against US in that same “Sea of
Forgetfulness”, where Jesus has cast our sins against HIM! (You may
have to pray this more than once). Next, we must MAKE ourselves do
what we ought to do. We have to quit paying attention to FEELINGS
which are fickle, anyway. We must make ourselves love and PRAY for
those who have hurt and used us. (It is hard to hate someone you are
praying for)! Check out the Word, where it tells us we have the mind
of Christ. Read Luke 10:19 where it says we have to power to tread on
serpents (hurts) and scorpions (who sting us with past words and
injects poison into our hearts) and over all the power (bitterness)
of the enemy, and nothing by any means shall hurt us, (not even
painful memories).

We must take charge over our own
“stinking thinking” and emotions rather than allow them to rule
over us! Forgiveness is like falling in love; it is a decision. It is
a CHOICE, not an emotion…emotion comes later.

Releasing and forgetting is also a
decision, but it is a battle. However…God is faithful in the
pulling down of strongholds in our mind, and “I can do all things
through Christ, Who strengthens me”. Christ showed us how to do
battle with the devil…He kept quoting God’s Holy Word back at him
as Satan was testing Christ in the wilderness. Lay hold on these
battle Scriptures, and fire them right back into your mind against
these onslaughts of hurt and painful memories. Every time we have
ever endured a blow, Jesus was/is standing there praying to the
Father for our strength to overcome. And overcome, we SHALL, because
the battle is the Lord’s and His holy arm has already gotten us the
victory! Amen…

I hope this has been of help to some
of you…if so please email me.

God Bless You All,

Pastor Moser

February, 2009

W. O. W.

“You are the salt of the earth,
but if it loses it savor, how can it be made salty again. It is no
longer good for anything” Matthew 5:13.

The Pastor's Desk

Re: Previous Website

The Home Place Mission had a former site and the time came where we had to switch web site hosts. Our email had to be changed as well. In transferring the articles over, every effort was made to correct any inferences to the old email address (the new one is on the home page). Also, all articles containing hyper links were needing updated too. Please forgive us if some things may have been overlooked. Because this page is in a blog format, the date we transferred each article over is what shows under the title when opened. The correct date each article was written is beside the title under the category column. We apologize for the blog format, as it is not as "user-friendly" as our old site but we do hope you find the articles encouraging and are blessed by the insights shared! Thank you for reading!